A TMOD theme titled “Lies we tell”

If you asked me what my favorite book is, I would tell you that it’s “A Thousand Splendid Suns” by Khaled Hosseini. And if you were a high achieving individual, someone extremely successful, I might tell you it’s “Atomic Habits” by James Clear. But here’s the truth – both of them are lies. My favorite book is obviously Harry Potter. Now that might seem like a stupid pointless lie. But believe it or not we all tell such stupid pointless lies to project a certain type of image. Let me prove it to you. Imagine we met at a party and I asked you about your most favorite trip. Most people would tell their experience of visiting Bali, Australia or perhaps Spain – all exotic places. But the truth is that the trips we most enjoy are generally the ones we make with friends to the most obscure or non exotic places, often without any plans. Saying so however doesn’t project a very tall image and therefore we mention the exotic places we have visited. We tell some lies to save our ass when we blunder and others just to save the image we project. Today’s session is about the second one. Here’s another lie I tell. When people ask me if I still feel nervous on stage after two years in Toastmasters, I lie that I don’t. But the fact is every time I am on stage; I still have bubbles building inside my stomach.

On that note let me tell you how a Toastmasters meeting happens. Every Toastmasters meeting is divided into three parts. The first part is the prepared speech section where members prepare a speech in advance, get it mentored and deliver the same. The second part is the impromptu session where anyone including the guest can participate. And the third part is the most important evaluation session where we will all learn how to improve ourselves. Let me now invite the General Evaluator to explain his role. Please help me welcome TM Name with a big round of applause.

Once the General Evaluator has explained his role, start the prepared speech section. After this session, continue with the theme as under.

Apart from projecting a different image, there is another instance when we tell small lies. Let me illustrate with example – Imagine you stayed at a hotel where the bathroom had three big cockroaches. Obviously you were disgusted by the experience. However when you retell this story, the details are often magnified. So the bathroom didn’t have just 3 cockroaches, it was full of them in every corner and cabinet. Also they weren’t just big but they were the size of your fist. Some may even add there were flying cockroaches. Such lies make our stories more thrilling and dramatic. That is why it doesn’t just rains, it rains cats and dogs, when there is an earthquake, we say it shook so wild that the fan started swinging and in the office we aren’t just busy, we are so overburdened that the office would shut if we don’t go.

Thankfully to describe the next session, I don’t have to lie as much. That’s because Table Topics are genuinely the most exciting and fun session in a Toastmasters meeting. So please welcome with a big round of applause our Table Topic Master TM Name.

Once the table topic session is over, continue with the theme as under.

So we saw some small lies we all tell to protect our images and other times just to exaggerate. But is there any harm in doing so? Well mostly there isn’t any. We just have to remember the lies we tell and repeat it to maintain consistency. So if it rained cats and dogs when I spoke to my father, it should do so when I speak to my mother as well. If we do so, we should be fine. However, lying too often may cost you your credibility. And exaggerating everything every time may lead to people discounting anything you say. Obviously this earns you a bad name just as the boy who cried wolf to trick villagers. So while white lies once in a while may not hurt you but doing so often definitely can.

With that it’s time to start the final session of the meeting, the evaluation session. Let’s welcome the GE for the day TM Name.

Once the Evaluation session is over, conclude the theme as under.

So fellow Toastmasters, right at the beginning I told you about two simple harmless lies I tell. Is there a lie that you tell as well, may be about your age or skills or job – let’s hear your story. (Engage audience here)

It’s time for awards now.